€4000 ($5500) starter kit

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elverket

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Hi!
I’m finally about to make the Leica jump, and I’m hoping for some expert advice before making my purchase. This is the situation:

I have €4000 (5500) to spend on a kit to get me started. This is the absolute limit, so no (more) stretching. I have decided on the M system, so Fuji etc. is out of the question.
So far I’m leaning towards an M8.2 (usually sold here in Norway for approx. €2000-2200) and a 35mm lens. As Norway is pretty dark several months a year and I shoot a lot indoors, I need something fast – at least f/2 IMO. I usually shoot people, urban environments, architecture and concerts, which I know is a lot to cover with one focal lenght, but I have a flexible Nikon kit as well that I’ll be keeping.
These are the options I’ve considered so far:

- 35mm Summicron IV or ASPH used.
- 35mm Summicron ASPH new. I live outside EU and go there regularly, so I could pick up one and have the local VAT refunded. The price difference would thus amount to €3-400 versus a used one. Worth it?
- 35mm Summilux, older model. Seems a bit big and heavy to me for a single lens setup, but the extra f-stop would surely be nice..
- 50mm Summilux pre-ASPH used. Not to many of those around here, but when they show up they seem to be in the same price range as the newer 35mm crons. Too narrow for a single lens combo with the M8?
- Two cheaper lenses, e.g. 35 and 90 Voiglander etc. I’m a bit hesitant to this option as the thought of only using one lens for a while actually seems quite compelling, and I want the best lens possible right away. I could allways save up for a while and buy a great 90mm or something in a couple of years.

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.
 
Get an R-D1, an M4-P or M6(pre-TTL), an Canon 50/1.4 LTM and a Ultron 28/1.9..
If you can wait for good offers a VC 35/1.2 is maybe also still in the package..

And you still will have some money left for film and a bag, maybe even for a flash..
 
I've always liked the 35mm Summicron-M ASPH. It may not be the loudest thing out there, but it is a proper workhorse: Very reliable.
 
The summilux 35 pre-asph is not very useful wide open. It's soft and the 1.4 is there just for the times you really need it. In your case yo probably need it a lot.
How about a CV 32/1.2? If you want the best 35 go for the 35 ASPH, probably out of your budget or the summicron asph, super sharp wide open.
 
If you must have a digital M and want to shoot in low light then I think 4,000 euros is perhaps a bit low. M9 is likely to be out of the question, leaving the M8, but then you need shorter focal length lenses, which cost more with big apertures.

If you like the 50 focal length then you could do a lot worse than M9 plus Zeiss 50 C-Sonnar, but I think that you'll struggle to find one at that price. Alternatively, M8 plus Voigtlander Nokton 35 1.2 would be good (and cost less than a fast leica 35) or the Zeiss Biogon is also an excellent lens, but only f2.

If you want a 35 field of view (i.e. on 24 by 36mm frame) then you're into really expensive fast galss with M8.

Mike
 
I would try everyting to get the M9 and stick a 40mm M-Rokkor lens onto it, very close to the 35mm Summicron for a fraction of the cost. Should make for an excellent and universal set-up.
 
If I had 4000 euros to spend, I'd buy an M9 body and _any_ lens to be honest. Then start worrying about other lenses somewhere down the line.

A well adjusted Jupiter-8 or Jupiter-3 would go a long way and only cost 30-150 bucks (low end for J8).
 
Where in Norway are you from? If you end up with the 8.2 then I'd go for a 35 (50 too narrow for all around).

Don't know if it would fit the budget but I have a near mint 35 summicron pre-asph for sale. Just PM me if it would become of interest.
 
sojournerphoto said:
If you must have a digital M and want to shoot in low light then I think 4,000 euros is perhaps a bit low. M9 is likely to be out of the question, leaving the M8, but then you need shorter focal length lenses, which cost more with big apertures.

If you like the 50 focal length then you could do a lot worse than M9 plus Zeiss 50 C-Sonnar, but I think that you'll struggle to find one at that price. Alternatively, M8 plus Voigtlander Nokton 35 1.2 would be good (and cost less than a fast leica 35) or the Zeiss Biogon is also an excellent lens, but only f2.

If you want a 35 field of view (i.e. on 24 by 36mm frame) then you're into really expensive fast galss with M8.

Mike
Click to expand...

Doesn't Voigtlander have the 28mm f/2 Ultron ? - not exorbitantly expensive. With a 1.33 crop factor you get ~35 mm FOV. This is of course assuming the OP didn't consider the crop factor to begin with.
 
I'd buy leica lenses first (21SA or Elmarit and a 35 'lux or 'cron) and an R-D1 for a body and be very happy shooting that setup until I could afford the M9. I wouldn't bother with the M8.

The prices for lenses seem to be floating away but the M9 prices are coming down.

Once I had the M9 body and if I found the 21 too wide, I'd sell it and get a 50 'lux or 'cron.

....well, this is my plan but I already have a 50 'cron. 🙂
 
To get a bit Norwegian here: I understand that the OP has a budget of 30000 NOK, which is around 5000 NOK less than what a used M9 goes for here. I've seen an M9 for 30000, but that one was sold in ten minutes.

Personally, I would take the M8 over the M8.2 any day of the week. You save quite a bit, and the sensor is the same.

If you are interested in a pre-asph 35mm Summicron I may have a lead for you (PM me). I was offered one that was pretty much "as new", with everything (box, papers, caps, hood). Also made in Germany, if that matters. Price was around 12000 NOK if I remember correctly. Not 6bit coded, and that may be a deal breaker if you're gonna use it on an M8/M8.2. Only reason for turning it down was that I found one for 8000 NOK (more of a user, really).

Other than that, a 35mm Nokton f/1.4 is also a good option, if you can work around the focus shift issues (I don't care about that, but I understand a lot of people do).
 
Buy the M9 for $4999 that was here a while ago.

Then get a zeiss biogon 2.8 or rollei sonnar 2.8

It doesn't make any sense to buy crop bodies
 
Personally I wouldn't recommend any potentially quirky or non-Leica lenses to a newbie unless they were from the Zeiss range.

Remember chaps that this should be some sort of datum point by which a new user can then go on to experiment with Nokton's and Pre-Asph Summilux's and have a reliable known reference to guide him. So I would say get a 35mm Summicron, or a 50mm Summicron as your first lens for your M8.2.

Ideally I would spend the bulk of the cash on a dealer bought secondhand M9 then look for a bargain 50mm Summicron even if you have to sell the kids. Shop demo versions and good dealer secondhand ones are coming on the market now at around £3800, which I know blows your budget, but it really simplifies your lens choice later on by not needing to factor in the crop factor. It actually makes the subsequent lenses cheaper, because you can use a 21mm lens as a 21mm instead of having to spend a whole lot more on an even wider lens just to get back to a 21mm field of view. Likewise you aren't buying a more expensive 35mm Summicron to get to a 50mm style field of view on an M8 that would be dealt with by a cheaper 50mm Summicon on the M9. So after buying a few lenses an M9 could have saved you money and brought out the best in those lenses.



Steve
 
[quote OP]
- Two cheaper lenses, e.g. 35 and 90 Voiglander etc. I’m a bit hesitant to this option as the thought of only using one lens for a while actually seems quite compelling, and I want the best lens possible right away. I could allways save up for a while and buy a great 90mm or something in a couple of years.
[/quote]

Define 'best lens'. If you want sharpness wide open, the Voigtlanders will be pretty close to the modern (and more expensive!) Leitz lenses, for a fraction of the cost. If you want 'dreamy' with lower contrast and slight light fall-off, the older Leitz lenses are what you need.

The M9 might be nice but too expensive, the M8 is a better choice budget-wise than the M8.2 because the sensor and software are the same.
 
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